East of Eden:
Chapter 46
Summary & Analysis

LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in East of Eden, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.

Good, Evil, and the Human Soul

Time

Family, Love, and Loneliness

Religion, Myth, and the Power of Stories

Identity

Money, Wealth, and the Value of Work

Summary

Analysis

John Steinbeck, the narrator, tells a story about how he and sister Mary, when hatred of Germans had reached a fever pitch, harassed and insulted one of Salinas’s German citizens. The narrator says he has always felt bad about this act.

Another interlude from the narrator reveals a crucial reality about the nature of evil: John succumbed to nationalistic fervor and harassed an innocent man. But just as significant as his transgression is his repentance: he knows he has done wrong. Good once again exists alongside evil, and redemption is always an option.